


I'm Not Going Anywhere

by maddierose3



Series: My Best Friend [2]
Category: aphmau - Fandom
Genre: F/M, More characters to be added, Set in Season 1, XReader, cause i like that neighborhood, second book
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-18 10:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,341
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14851086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddierose3/pseuds/maddierose3
Summary: Will (Y/N)'s friends remember after 5 years? We can only hope...





	1. I'm Not Going Anywhere

"Make sure all of your junk is out of my house!"

"Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't want to have to come back here to get something."

"That's the only thing we can agree on. Now get out."

"Already leaving."

I slammed the door behind me. Oh, sorry you had to witness that. I was just grabbing my last suitcase from my room and my mom was drunk again. I'm glad I'm moving out. That way I won't have to deal with her anymore. If you couldn't tell, my relationship with my mom isn't the greatest. But, as cliche as it sounds, it wasn't always like this. But back in high school, my dad got arrested for domestic abuse. My mom was in the hospital and almost died. I was living with my best friend at the time, but as soon as my mom got better, she moved us out of state and I haven't seen that adorable, short, amber-eyed girl since. I've long since graduated high school, about 3 years, and I finally have enough money to move out.

 _But what does high school have to do with your relationship with your mom?_ Oh yeah. I forgot. Well, after about a month in the new house, my mom's medical troubles came back, probably from overexerting herself while moving. The internal bleeding came back and she had to be put on about 10 different pain meds to be able to move at all. They messed with her mind in a negative way. When the bleeding went away again, the effects on her mind stayed. She had become dependent on the meds she was taking and, when she was taken off them, turned to alcohol for the same effect. After a while, she developed into an angry drunk, throwing things (her favorite thing being anything glass) for hours, and throwing up before passing out in various placing around the house (the most interesting place I found her was in our backyard, behind a bush). This all started in my sophomore year. So 5 years later, I finally moving out. No, I'm not leaving her by herself. She doesn't know I called for her to be put in rehab in 3 days.

I threw the final suitcase in the passenger seat of my car and started the engine. I took one last glance at the house. Mom wasn't in sight. As I started to drive away, I rolled down the window and flipped off the house I spent the last 5 years cleaning vomit out of and arguing with my drunken mother.

About 3 blocks away, I pulled over to think for a bit. I realized I didn't actually know if I was heading in the right direction. I opened the email I got from my real estate agent and plugged the address he gave me into my phone's GPS. I then plugged my aux cord into my phone, started playing my "Favorites" playlist on Spotify, and started driving again. Turns out, my new house is approximately 15 miles away. Let's hope there's a taco bell or boba shop on the way.

After 3 miles, a very important song cycled through in the playlist. You know the type; contains very emotional feelings for you, maybe a connection between you and a very important person in your life or you discovered it and a very difficult time in your life. This song, "Better than I Know Myself" by Adam Lambert, was all three for me. It was the song I always listened to when I was caught crying by my best friend, we developed a bond over it, she would sing it to me when she saw me crying due to nightmares. The same, short, spunky, amber-eyed girl that I haven't seen in 5 years.

~Time skip (because I'm lazy)~

After 15 miles and cycling through my playlists about 3 times, I finally made it to my new house. I stepped out of my car and stretched. My new house was far enough away from my mom's that she wouldn't accidentally show up at my front door drunk one day, but still close enough that it only took me 2 hours to get here (it took us 13 hours when we moved 5 years ago).

I took a long look at the house. It was a two-story house, 2 bed, 3 bathroom building with a pool in the back. I had 2 requirements when I first met up with my real estate agent; 1) at least 2 bedrooms (in case I have someone sleeping over) and 2) I want a backyard. The only downside; I have no furniture.

I grabbed my key and unlocked the door. Like I predicted, no furniture. I wandered around the house for a while, brainstorming where I wanted everything to go. Luckily, I had a fridge. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw it. At least I wouldn't have to order takeout every day till I could get a fridge.

I made my way upstairs where the 2 bedrooms and 1 one of the bathrooms were. I walked into both bedrooms. Very similar, with one (I assume the master) being slightly bigger and having the bathroom. I, of course, chose the master bedroom. I didn't want to have to walk downstairs every time I needed to use the bathroom.

I walked back outside to start moving all my stuff inside. It wasn't much; 2 suitcases, a backpack, a messenger bag, and a few boxes of mementos and memories. It took about 20 minutes to move everything from my car to the front room and then move it up to my room. All the of the stuff I brought was just personals I needed. Anything I would have put in the front room or kitchen belonged to my mom. I walked back out to my car to grab the last suitcase in the passenger seat and lock the car when I heard a dog barking.

I turned my head to see a little husky puppy jumping on my leg, begging. I smiled, gave the angel a couple of scratches on the head and turned to bring the suitcase inside. Without me knowing it, the little pupper followed me inside and scared the daylights out of me when it barked at me as I stepped inside.

"How did you get in here?" I questioned, putting down the suitcase to pick up the dog. I walked outside, hoping to find the precious baby's owner when it barked and started to wiggle out of my arms. Before I could drop the poor thing, I set it down and looked at what it was barking at.

Tears began to well up in my eyes and spill over without me noticing. What, or rather _who_ , I saw running towards me and the dog left me speechless. _A short, spunky, adorable, amber-eyed girl._

Or shall I say, woman. She picked up the dog.

"Celestia! Have you been out running with Aaron again? You are too fast," she looked at me with a closed-eyed smile, "Thank you so much for catching her. I wouldn't have been able to catch up if you didn't," she bent down and put a leash on Celestia's collar and stood up again, "Thank you ag-"

We made eye contact, tears still streaming down my face. My hand covered my mouth in shock. It was her. I was really her.

"(Y-(Y/N)?!" she began to cry too. In 2 seconds flat, we managed to hug each other and start crying violently. Every memory we ever shared came flooding back; art class in high school, carpool, lunchtime, nearly losing my mom, living with her for 4 months, and tears shed when I moved away.

"Aph... I can't believe it," we pulled away and looked at each other. I heard another pair of footsteps headed our way, stop, and then come again even faster. I looked over just in time to see a shaggy mess of blonde hair tackle me to the ground.

"(Y/N)!" It was a guy this time. My best guy friend back in high school. The brother of my high school crush. The guy who would joke with me for hours on end through video skype on the weekends. I hugged him tighter than I hugged Aph, cause I knew I couldn't break him.

"Garroth!!" I laughed. We were currently on the ground, hugging, with Celestia jumping around and barking at us. More footsteps came.

"Aph! What's happening?! Garroth just ran out of the house towards here."

"Yeah, dude. What the heck? You scared the crap out of us."

"Hold on! I'm almost there... *huff* *puff* Man, you guys run way too fast."

"Garroth," I said, patting his back, "We should probably get off the ground."

"Oh, right. Sorry." He said, laughing. He stood up and extended it to me. I grabbed it and he hoisted me up to a standing position. That lasted all of about 3 seconds. One by one, the three guys that showed up while Garroth and I were on the ground tackled me, I managed to stay standing with the first 2, but the last one knocked us all down. Garroth and Aphmau started laughing. After about 30 seconds, the three guys got up and helped me up.

"Well, that was a friendly hello!" I said, looking at the three. It was Dante, Laurance, and Travis.

"When did you get here?" Dante asked.

"About an hour ago. I finally moved out of my mom's house." I answered.

"Wait. You've lived nearby this whole time?!" Travis asked.

"What? No, no, no. I lived about 15 miles from here. Hell, I didn't even know you guys were still around. I thought you guys were gonna move to the city like we all planned."

"Well, we did." Laurence started.

"But Aph moved with Kawaii~chan and Katelyn," Dante continued.

"And these idiots followed me." Aph finished. I couldn't help it. I started to laugh.

"Wow! You guys haven't changed at all! So does that mean Kawaii~chan and Katelyn are here too?" I asked.

"Yeah, but they're out grocery shopping right now. They'll be back in an hour or so," Aph answered.

"Man, I was hoping to see those two." Apparently, we were making a lot of commotion and noise that we attracted a certain someone who lived down the street.

"Why are you guys yelling so-" We made eye contact and I could tell he wanted to run. Not out of fear, but out of shock. We haven't seen each other in 5 years. He started to back away, probably back to his house. But before he could get very far, I ran up to him (he was kinda far away) and wrap him in a hug.

"Did you miss me?" I asked. I think he was trying to hide the fact that he was crying because he buried his head into my shoulder.

~Time Skip (cause I don't know how else to continue this)~

Today couldn't have gone better. We were all outside talking and joking and catching up for a good 3 hours. After about an hour, Katelyn and Kawaii~Chan came back from shopping. This time, I was the one to tackle my friends. But not Kawaii~chan. I was afraid I'd break her. But I basically threw my self at Katelyn. Afterward, everyone said goodbye, exchanged phone numbers (I got a new number since high school), and we all went home. I flopped in the middle of my empty front room and started to cry a little. I was so happy. I hadn't seen any of these amazing people in 5 years and the fact that I was able to move into the same neighborhood they were all living in.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

I stood up, dusted myself off, and answered the door. It was Zane.

"Hey, Zane! Come inside."

"Thanks, (Y/N)." He said, stepping inside. At that very moment, I remembered I didn't have any furniture. But then I remembered. My bed. The previous owners of this house left the bed in the master bedroom.

"Hey, come with me," I grabbed his hand, took him upstairs to my bedroom, and sat him down on the bed. His face was completely red though. I forgot he was a bit awkward and I guess grabbing his hand and bringing him to my bedroom without saying more than 10 words.

"Heh, sorry. I don't really have any furniture," We sat there, both red in the face for about 30 seconds before I broke the silence again, "So what's up?"

And he hugged me. No words. I wasn't upset about it, just a bit shocked. I hugged him back. I guess with everyone around, he didn't want to cry in front of him. But now that we were alone, he started to cry. I didn't say anything, just hugged him and whispered, "I'm back, and I'm not going anywhere."

After a couple minutes, he pulled back and said, "Why? Why did you leave? Why didn't you say anything?"

I lowered my head in shame and sadness, "I'm really sorry, Zane. My mom scheduled everything behind my back, and she moved us away without talking about it. She got the movers to pack up my stuff and put it in the moving van all while I was at school. She deactivated my phone and got me a new number. I tried to get answers out of her, but all she would say was 'I don't want you father to find us.' I didn't fully believe her though. My dad wasn't going to be released for a long time, but everything was already finalized..." I grew silent. I wasn't sure how to continue. All of the memories of the move, my mother's lies, and the past 5 years came flooding back. Silent tears began to stream down my face. I wiped them off my face.

"(Y/N)... I'm so sorry..."

"Hey, don't worry about it! That's all in the past and now I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. My parents can't do anything to me. They no longer have custody of me and I'm 15 miles away. Besides, in a couple days, my mother will be admitted to rehab for her alcoholism." I flashed him a big smile and he smirked back at me.

"You were always cheerful, weren't you?" He laughed.

"Yup!"

"Well, I’m...glad your back. I'll see you tomorrow, (Y/N)."

"Good night, Zane."

"Good night, (Y/N)."


	2. Pool Day

*Ding ding*

*groan*

*Ding ding*

*louder groan*

*ding ding*

"Ok! Ok, geez, stupid phone."

Waking up in the morning is my least favorite thing. Especially when the only piece of furniture I have is a bed and, while trying to reach my phone on the ground, I fall out of bed, landing on the hardwood floors. I was too tired to care though. I opened my phone, still lying on the ground, and checked to see why it was going off. I didn't set an alarm so someone wants to talk to me urgently. It was Katelyn, Aph, and Garroth.

K: Morning, dork.

Y: Right back at you. Why are you up so early?

K: What are you talking about? It 1 in the afternoon.

Y: You're kidding.

K: Nope. That's why Aph has been trying to contact you.

Y: Yeah, I saw. Garroth is also trying to get ahold of me so I'll talk to you later.

K: Later.

Y: Later.

I closed the texts from Katelyn and opened up Aphmau's.

A: Good Morning! :) How was your first night?

Y: It went alright. I might be lying on the floor because I fell trying to reach my phone. But it's fine.

A: (Y/N)! Get off the floor!

Y: But mum!

A: No buts! I want you to come to hang out today! It's finally warm enough to use the pool.

Y: Fine... Can we do it this afternoon though? I don't own a swimsuit.

A: Sure! Go ahead and invite the guys as well. See you then!

Y: See you.

Well, at least I have my plans for the day set. Time to see what Garroth wants.

G: Hey

Y: Morning Garroth. What's up?

G: Not much. Just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out and catch up today?

Y: Sorry. Aphmau got to me first.

G: Oh... ok...

Y: But she asked me if you and the other guys wanted to hang out too! She's opening up their pool and we're having a party. Are you coming?

G: Oh, sure. I was kind of hoping we could have time alone though.

Y: Nothing says we can't break away from the party and go walk together!

G: Haha! Alright. I'll see you there, (Y/N).

Y: See you there, dork.

I smiled at my phone. Garroth hasn't changed since high school. I got up and wandered downstairs and into my kitchen. And then I remembered I had no food. I had two options at this point: 1) Go hungry and still go shopping for some swimsuits or 2) go eat takeout and then go shopping; full, but not feel my best. I decided to choose the first option. I'd probably pig out on all the food at the party anyway and if I didn't eat, my stomach wouldn't look as big.

I walked back upstairs and into my room. I hadn't unpacked my clothes, nor had I changed out of yesterday's clothes. I found the box that held my clothes and pulled out a black hoodie with “Me? Sarcastic? Never.” written on it, jean shorts, and floral vans. I grabbed my white Jansport backpack with my phone, headphones, wallet, and keys.

I locked my front door, got into my car and headed for the nearest mall. Wherever that was. I'm really good at getting lost, aren't I?

(Time skip)

For the first time in a while, I actually had an enjoyable time choosing swimsuits, which usually never happens. I came home with a bikini and a cover-up. It was a black bikini. The top had off-the-shoulder sleeves and ruffles. The bottoms were high-waisted with strappy sides. The coverup was white and lazy and ended 2” down my thighs. I changed into the swimsuit, threw the cover-up on, slipped on a pair of black, strappy sandals, grabbed my backpack and walked across to Aphmau's house.

I knocked on the door, hearing music and talking coming from the back. I didn't want to be rude and just invite myself in or sneak around the back so I just waited. And waited. And waited. I'm just kidding. After about 3 minutes, I got a text from Aph saying to just come around the back. I walked around to see Aphmau and Kawaii~Chan sitting by the pool.

"Hey, guys!" I said.

"(Y/N)!" Aph jumped up to hug me, "You look so cute!"

"Thank you! Where's Katelyn? I wanna throw her into the pool." I said, mischievously. She'd probably kill me but it'd be worth it.

"Katelyn~sama refuses to come out of her room." Kawaii~Chan huffed, "Kawaii~chan tried to tell her (Y/N)-sama would be here but Katelyn~sama said she didn't care."

"She doesn't care, does she?" I walked into the house, not knowing where I was going. I assumed that their house was set up similarly to mine; the front room and public areas are downstairs, and the bedrooms are upstairs. When I got up the stairs, I saw two open doors and a closed door. One of the opened doors showed an overly pink room, and the other, a not-so-overly purple room. Those seemed to be Kawaii~chan's and Aphmau's rooms. Which means that Katelyn is trying to barricade herself in her room to avoid being social.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

"Go away, Kawaii~chan. I don't care if (Y/N)'s gonna be there," I knew it. Katelyn is trying to avoid the party. Yes, I wanted her there but if she refused, then I'll just eat her share of the food. The reason why I kicked her door open was that she didn't care if I was there or not.

"You don't care, huh?"

"Ah! Jesus, (Y/N), you nearly gave me a heart attack!" she screamed.

"Well, are you coming down to the party or not?" I said, standing with my hands on my hips.

"No. I'd rather stay up here." She turned back around to her computer.

"Fine," I said, turning on my heel, "I guess I'll just eat your share of the food."

"Don't you dare." She said, point a finger at me threateningly.

"If you don't want me to, come down to the party."

"Fine. But I'm not swimming." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I wouldn't recommend it," I said, starting to walk slowly away.

"Don't you dare throw me in the pool!"

"Hehehehehehehe," as I started down the stairs, I heard Katelyn give a heavy sigh. I walked out to the pool deck with a proud look on my face.

"She's coming down soon! I threatened to eat her food and throw her into the pool." I was proud of that fact. 1) She knew I wasn't kidding and 2) I used to be intimidated as hell by Katelyn when I first met her.

"Well, someone's feeling good about something."

I turned around and saw Travis, Garroth, Dante, and Laurence come around the corner, all in their swim trunks and a t-shirt. Except for Travis. Travis wasn't wearing a shirt. But we all expected that.

"You got a problem with that, Travis? You should be happy about it! I got Katelyn to come join us and actually go swimming."

"*gasp* Blueberry!" and he ran inside to go find her. I swear, there are two sides to Travis; the Casanova side, and the complete and utter dork side.

"Dang, (Y/N), you've changed a lot since high school," I turned my attention towards Dante.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I said, sashaying over to him. I wasn't sure exactly what he meant, but Dante was easy to make uncomfortable in high school.

"What? It's been 5 years and you're not the scrawny high schooler you were any more," That's what I thought. Yes, I'm a late bloomer. The high school version of myself had less shape than a rectangle and I was pretty flat chested. But now? I can't wear some clothes because my curves wouldn't allow it. (Ladies, you understand my struggle here) Dante was also commenting on the fact that I was wearing a bikini, which means I was showing off a lot of skin. Time for some revenge.

I did the classic flirting move that you see in most movies. I giggled a little (A real low point in my life) and put my hands around Dante's neck. He put his hands on my waist and I had to really struggle to keep a straight face. I slowly walked us back towards the pool. I had to time this perfectly. At the exact moment, I twirled and threw Dante into the pool.

"Hah! That's what you get for being a perv!" I said, pointing my finger at him. I turned around to walked away from the pool before he could pull me in after him and saw Garroth and Laurence completely red in the face. I guess I affected more than one person.

"(Y/N)!" I looked over to the back door to see Aph struggling with a bunch of food, "Can you come help?"

"Um, yeah! I don't want all that food to drop to the ground!" I ran over to Aph and grab about half the food she was carrying. She stopped struggling with everything and we were easily able to bring all the food over to a fold out table they set up.

"Aph, why did you think you could car-" I was cut short of teasing Aphmau by a pair of wet arms grabbing me and jumping into the pool. When I resurfaced, my long hair completely covering my face. "Dante!" I yelled. I heard Dante and the other guys start laughing. I didn't hear Aphmau though; maybe she went inside to go find Katelyn and Travis. I flipped my hair over my head and out of my eyes and I realized something.

"Um, guys? Did anyone invited Zane?" I asked. 

"Well, I invited him. But I doubt he's gonna show up," Garroth said.

"Doubt who is gonna show up?"

Behind Garroth in his normal jacket and jeans was Zane.

"Zane! You made it!" I exclaimed. I hoisted myself out of the pool. 

"Did you already go swimming?" He asked.

"No. Dante threw me into the pool," I threw my thumb behind me at Dante, who was still in the pool.

"Only after you did it first!" 

"You deserved it!" I yelled, turning towards him.

"Ok, maybe I did!" He finally climbed out of the pool and strolled over to us.

"So what did you do this time, Dante?" Zane asked, seeing that Dante and I were the ones who were wet from the pool.

"He was being a perv, so I threw him in the pool," I said proudly.

"And I did it back to her!"

"Come on, you guys!" Aphmau called, "Dinner's almost ready!"


	3. Rooftop Sunsets

I was the first to run inside when dinner was called. In the kitchen, I found Katelyn, Travis, and Aphmau preparing dinner. 

"Hey! There you are! We're making tacos!" I peered at the countertop in front of her and saw a tray of taco shells ready to be filled. Travis was cooking the meat and rice while Katelyn was gathering the veggies and other toppings. I walked over to Travis and helped him carry the rice and meat over to Aph. Katelyn had finished putting extra toppings into serving bowls and had brought these over as well. With all the food in serving dishes, we brought all the food outside to the table. 

“Ooo! Tacos!” Garroth said, running over to us. Aphmau’s tacos were famous back in high school and it seems as though nothing has changed. I stood back as everyone got their tacos and I heard the doorbell ring. 

“I’ll be right back, guys,” I walked inside and to the front door. Upon opening it, I saw a tall man with dark, slightly shaggy hair in a jacket but no shirt, dark jeans, and sneakers. 

“Um, hello,” I said. 

“Hi. I’m looking for Aphmau,” the man responded. Something about him seemed... familiar. 

“There you are!” I turned around to see Aphmau approaching the stranger and me, “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it! Come on. There are tacos outside.”

“Um, Aph?” I asked, “Not to be rude, but who is this?”

“Hm? Oh! Don’t you recognize him?” I shook my head with a highly confused look on my face, “(Y/N), it’s Aaron!”

I slowly began raising an eyebrow. I don’t know if Aaron was someone Aph became friends with after I left or what, but I didn’t remember him at all. 

“Aph, you seem to have forgotten I left part way through sophomore year.”

“Hm? I didn’t forget. I met Aaron in freshman year.” 

I racked my memory for anyone by the name of Aaron. Then it hit me. He was the same guy Aphmau kept trying to fight, all the time. They were in werewolf class together but I didn’t hear much about him after that. 

“You! How... Aph, I thought you hated him!?” I shouted. 

“What? No! We don’t hate each other!” Aaron said. 

“Yeah, Aaron is a really good friend of mine!” Aphmau continued. 

I kept looking between Aphmau and Aaron, trying to piece together how these two, who used to fight daily in our freshman year of high school, somehow became friends without me knowing even though I lived with Aphmau for the majority of freshman year. 

“Come on, let's all go back out to the pool and we’ll explain everything, (Y/N),” Aphmau suggested. 

“Yeah...All right,” I said, cautiously. I wasn’t sure how much I trusted Aaron. The last time I remember seeing him, he and Aph were, like, arch-enemies. But, nonetheless, we walked back out to the pool together. 

Once we got back out, everyone greeted Aaron and he and Aphmau walked over to the table to get tacos. Meanwhile, I made my way over to Garroth. 

“Hey, when did you guys become friends with Aaron? Last I remember, he and Aphmau hated each other,” I asked. 

"Yeah, they did. I'm not entirely sure what happened but they became friends by the end of the year," he responded, mouth full of taco shell, meat, and rice, "You should get one of these tacos. They're really good!"

"Maybe later. I'm still trying to process this whole thing..." I murmured.

"Suit yourself," he said, shrugging and walking away with his taco. A few seconds later, Aphmau and Aaron rejoined me with tacos.

"Got you a taco!" Aphmau said, handing me the taco, "So, where do we even begin?"

I began to eat my taco while Aaron started off the story from a part I already knew; sports day. Later that day, Aaron had found Aphmau in one of the lockers in the boy's locker room  _which Aphmau wasn't very happy he shared_. The next big event between the two of them was Kawaii~chan accidentally turning Aphmau into a temporary werewolf. I tried to imagine what she would look like. Probably dark purple fur, knowing her. During werewolf class, Aaron had pulled her ears and tail. Aphmau, in response, shoved him against a wall. 

"You deserved that," I laughed. 

Aphmau continued by describing how it seemed she was losing friendships everywhere and making every mistake. Every time she tried to help someone, she felt as though she made it worse and Gene, the leader of his three-person "gang" that did nothing but stand around in weird locations, had tried to ruin her friendships with Garroth and Laurence. Aphmau felt as though everything she loved had come crashing down around her so she ran to the music room and texted FC. That was when she found out Aaron, who was playing the guitar in one of the practice rooms, was FC. 

"We remained in contact after high school and the rest is history," Aaron finished.

"I'm just shocked at how dense I was to not realize that," I sighed, sinking my head into my hand.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m just glad we can move on and be friends now,” Aaron said. I lifted my head and began to smile. 

“I’d love that,” I said.

"Hey, you finally got a taco!” I turned around to see Garroth walking towards us with taco bits on his face.

"Garroth, your face is covered in taco pieces," I grabbed the napkin I used to hold my taco and cleaned his face. From across the yard, I could very clearly hear Kawaii~chan squeal.

"Calm down, Kawaii~chan," I said, throwing my napkin away in the trash can, "You know as well as I do that Garroth is my best friend."

"I know, (Y/N)-sama! But Kawaii~chan just thinks that you two would be so cute together!" I rolled my eyes. There was no point in trying to convince Kawaii~chan not to ship. It was a losing battle.

"So long as you don't do anything  _creepy_ , I don't care," I sighed. Kawaii~chan was known in high school for being a little bit creepy when it came to shipping. She would do almost anything to get pictures of her ships around campus and everyone tried their hardest to ignore it.

“Hey, the sun is setting,” I said, watching the skyline turn into a beautiful mixture of orange and pink, “Aph, can we watch it from your roof like we used to?”

“Of course!” I followed her to the side of the house where there was a ladder already set up leading to the roof. I began climbing first, Aphmau at the bottom holding it steady. The rest of the group joined us too and in a matter of minutes. Everyone was sitting on the roof of Aphmau, KC, and Katelyn’s house. 

We all sat in silence, soaking in the last few minutes of daylight the day had left to offer us. At this moment, I felt as though I had finally found my forever home in this neighborhood. I had reconnected with the people I loved, transformed old enemies into new friends, and loved every moment of it. 

“Hey.”

I turned to my left to see Zane, who had moved from his little plot of the roof where he sat alone settle himself next to me. 

“Hey back,” I responded. 

“I thought you were afraid of heights.”

“I am. Aphmau and I spent countless nights together on the roof of her childhood home watching the sunset, so I’m feeling more nostalgic than afraid.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I broke the silence again. 

“Hey, Zane?”

“Hm?” 

“Did... did you ever think we would meet again when I left?”

“Honestly, no, I didn’t. No one did. Some tried to stay hopeful, but we ended up giving up on seeing you again.”

“... I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I left with no notice, no text, not a single word. For a while, I hoped you guys would forget about me. Then maybe, you could still be happy.”

“Ha! We could never forget about you, (Y/N),” yelled Garroth, a few feet away from us. 

“Yeah!” Travis piped in, “you don’t realize how much you mean to us. I mean, you used to give me pep talks when I was anxious or doubting myself.” 

“It’s not like I can forget the girl who lived with me for almost a year,” Aphmau said, “You became like my sister.”

“But... I was gone for 5 years...”

“That doesn’t matter now,” Zane affirmed, “You’re back. That’s what matters.”

“Aww! Is my baby brother showing emotions?” Garroth teased. 

“Shut it, Garroth!” 

I smiled, tears beginning to slide down my cheeks as the last rays of sunshine shone on our faces. 

“Heh... what did I do to deserve you guys...” I wiped the tears from my cheeks and watched the sun disappear below the horizon. 

“Alright,” Aaron interjected, “Let’s get back inside before it gets too dark to see.” 

Aaron was the first to descend the ladder and hold it still for every else. He really has become a great guy since high school. One by one, we all began to descend the ladder and walk inside. Aphmau was the second one down after Aaron and rushed into the house. I was the last and walked inside with Aaron. We were immediately greeted by the smell of hot chocolate and two mugs being handed to us. 

“Thanks, Aphmau,” I said. 

“Yeah, thanks,” Aaron echoed. Aphmau responded with a quiet “You’re welcome” and a blush dancing across her face. Anyone with two eyes and a brain could see something happening between the two so I walked with my hot chocolate over to Kawaii~chan. 

“I assume you know all about this?”

“Of course! It’s Kawaii~chan’s #1 ship!” She squealed. 

“Kawaii~chan!” Aphmau yelled, embarrassed. Kawaii~chan squeaked and hid behind me, which made me laugh. 

“So, (Y/N), what else has happened since you left. Besides, you know...”

“Not much. Oh, I got my first boyfriend.”

Everyone stood there, shocked. Well, everyone except Aaron, who didn’t know I hadn’t had a boyfriend while I was attending Phoenix Drop High, “Calm down, ya crazies.”

“Tell. Us. Everything,” Aphmau demanded. 

“Fine, fine. It’s not that big of a deal so why not.”

“His name was Dean and he was incredibly sweet. For the first month, that is,” I began, “During the first month, everything seemed fine. He would make me laugh, we would talk, we would discuss the future, we comforted each other. But he began to get very... demanding. Almost every day, he would ask when we were gonna have our first kiss, or when I would sleep with him. Every time, I avoided the questions but he wouldn’t stop. This continued for months and he got more and more... aggressive each time he asked until one day he demanded I slept with him that night, or it was over between us. You can guess which one happened.” 

“Oh, my Irene... (Y/N)... I’m so sorry,” Aphmau whispered. 

“Hey, you don’t have to apologize. A week later, he found another girl, tried the same thing with her, and she broke his nose,” I heard Katelyn laugh under her breath. 

“Anyway, last I heard of him, he moved across the country so I’ll never hear from him again. Good riddance,” I concluded. 

“That’s good,” Aphmau sighed, “Hey! Why don’t we all have one massive sleepover?!”

Almost everyone agrees at once. The only ones unable to attend were Dante and Laurence, both because they had work early in the morning. We bade them goodnight and all separated to change into PJs and gather anything else we would need for a sleepover. 

I changed into a pair of red and black plaid shorts and a loose black tank top. I knew I wasn’t gonna need much so I threw a few toiletries (toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush and the like) into my bag and walked back to Aphmau’s house. Aphmau, Kawaii~chan, and Katelyn were already changed and downstairs when I got back and Kawaii~chan was in the kitchen making popcorn. Apparently, KC wanted to make “white chocolate confetti” popcorn but Katelyn said no. They comprised and KC got to make both. It wasn’t long before everyone else arrived, filling the living room. Aphmau brought down a few of Kawaii~chan’s beanbags so everyone would have a seat. 

“Alright! Let’s get this sleepover started!” 


End file.
